How Did We Get to 7 Billion People So Fast?

I love the cool infographic video from NPR.  7 Billion: How Did We Get So Big So Fast? is a video that uses colored liquids to visualize the population rates of the differen continents.  High birth rates mean fast liquid pouring in, slower death rates slow down the liquid dripping out of the bottom.

The U.N. estimates that the world’s population will pass the 7 billion mark on Monday. [Oct 31st]

As NPR’s Adam Cole reports, it was just over two centuries ago that the global population was 1 billion — in 1804. But better medicine and improved agriculture resulted in higher life expectancy for children, dramatically increasing the world population.

Found on FlowingData